The sounds of the wildlife at Tikal are what sold me on the experience.
I follow suit and listen for the sounds.
In the distance I hear a deep growling sound – it almost sounds like hogs…but only magnified times ten in both volume and intensity.
It’s the howler monkeys.
The ruins of Tikal, a pre-Columbian Mayan site, sit nestled still well within the Guatemalan jungle and although archeologists have uncovered numerous ruins all over the area, the forests are left in tact…and in fact they’re still hiding secrets as yet uncovered.
As we wander …

You know how that phrase “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry?”
Yeah, that about sums up most of my time in Belize and my major plans for the country.
I have read absolutely fabulous things about the diving in Belize. The Blue Hole has been on my bucket list for quite some time and the country boasts the second largest barrier reef in the world – sounded great!
But then a series of events forced me to completely abandon these plans and eventually just bail from the country …

A new country for me is all about the people and the culture. Although I love seeing the major iconic structures, it has been my conversations with locals and very hands-on traveling and volunteering that has proven the most memorable and rewarding.
And perhaps it’s this very reason why Belize caught me off guard; my expectations for the local culture have been stepped on and shattered really. They speak English in Belize for starters and the Queen herself graces the face of their coins and dollars. Though I knew all of …

Dear my Lonely Planet: Central America on a Shoestring,

Why have you lead me astray? You disappointed me this past week at the Mexican/Belizean border crossing.

I love you, I nurture you, I pull you out of the depths of my bag when I’m in a pinch, and yet you disappoint at the weirdest times. You’ve got ten different hostel accommodations for some random, Podunk towns, but yet a mere paragraph about the actually fairly confusing border crossing between Mexico and Belize via Chetumal.

But also, you know, thank …

The ruins of Chichén Itzá were my first stop on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. As my first set of Maya ruins of this trip, I have to say, they’re quite a bit different from the temples architecture of Asia – and a good thing too because I got really “templed out” by the end of my time in SEA and India.
The Maya ruins are a whole different ball game though; the history behind the temples and the sacrifices and religious ceremonies held at Chichén Itzá are incredibly different from …